Oasis
by cube V
Summary: At first I thought it was her beauty that made me feel this way, but as time dragged on I found I was drawn to her eyes. Why were they haunting me? She was like water, her eyes were like water. She was the vaccine to my nightmares. AU fic, enjoy!
1. My Club, My City

A/N: Just to get everyone in the same boat, this has nothing to do with the manga/anime, for instance, alchemy is not included (sorry), and there's a different reason Ed loses his limbs. I also added some more technology, as in, computers, internet, cell phones, night clubs, etc. Also Central is considered the party capital of Amestris. There are three main clubs in Central, which are owned by Edward, Mustang, and Kimblee. This is mostly a romance, but there will be some mystery/drama. The story is written in POVs of different characters (mostly Ed) and for the most part it's as if the character is speaking to you.

Oh and another important snippet, Dreams are written in Italics without quotations, inner dialogue is written with italics AND quotations.

The rating is M because: sexual reference, sex scenes (later), strong language, use of drugs (alcohol).

Disclaimer: Oh yeah, and all hail Hiromu Arakawa for being a badass and creating Fullmetal Alchemist, because I obviously didn't.

CHAPTER ONE: My Club, My City

ED'S POV-

It was just another day. Money was easy, business was booming, and the annoying girlfriend was off somewhere probably driving someone else crazy. I smirked taking another swig of my beer. Living in Central was good; the people were lively, the night-life even livelier. My eyes gazed over the crowd of people moving together like waves on the ocean called the dance floor with the energizing sounds of techno music encircling them. It was a nice sight, to know that I created this. That these were _my _people, _my _own ingenuity, _my _own night club, _Steel_. Although I'd rarely admit it aloud, Alphonse does most of the paperwork. But then again I was putting him through college with the money I was saving on hired help from him working for me. _"Equivalent Exchange_," I had subconsciously thought. That's not completely true though, the amount of money I am banking off this establishment is enough to put three Alphonses through college without struggling financially. I looked over at Alphonse to see him looking longingly at the dance floor. Al loved to dance, like the fruit he was, but I knew who was down there. _She_ was down there somewhere. I didn't want to run into Rose. She had only become clingier over time, like calling every hour of the day asking me where I was, yeah that kind of clingy. I was beginning to think I might break it off with her soon, but knowing her, I really don't want to know how she'll cope with it. She's overly obsessive, and she's probably going insane down there looking for me. As mean as it sounds, I had to sneak up to V.I.P and hide out in one of the booths with Al. Funny huh? Hiding in my own establishment…

"Brother," Al said, breaking my thoughts, "if she's really this bad why don't you talk to her about it?"

"Talk to her about what?" I snorted, "What Al? Tell her to change everything about her because everything she does pisses me off?" I took another swig of my beer, "Besides, people don't change."

Al thought I had some sort of relationship disorder. For some reason he has it in his mind I push people away.

Al, who was looking at me, took his eyes off me and gazed at the dance floor again, "Al, don't let me ruin your fun, I'm comfortable up here," I gave him what I hoped was a reassuring smile, "Go ahead and go find yourself a girl and dance."

"Are you sure?" I answered with a nod, "Alright brother, I'll be back in a little bit."

With that, I watched him leave his beer on the table and practically half run half dance down the stairs to the dance floor as a new powerful techno anthem started up. I smiled as I watched him throw himself into the crowd. He was so bad with girls, well, they loved him, absolutely adored him. But he was awkward about taking steps towards sexual relationships. Having looked away for a second and my eyes finding Al again, I watched as two other girls danced with him enthusiastically. It really made me smile, to see my brother so happy. He was the sole purpose I followed my dream, and the sole purpose of even living. A black figure stepped in front of me breaking my line of sight and I felt my stomach drop. _"Shit,"_ I thought, _"here she comes…"_

"Eddy! Where have you been?" she screamed across the second floor of my club as if she had lost her child. I cringed at the used of the nickname, not so much that I actually minded the name… it was just… her. "I've been looking ALL over for you," she overemphasized the "all" part.

I forced myself to smile a little, "Oh," I scratched the back of my head, "I was looking for you too, and then I figured I'd stay in one spot so you could find me." Man I was pretty good at lying when it came to her.

"I know! One second you were behind me dancing and then the next I turned around to find some pervert grinding his junk on me."

She had dragged me out on the dance floor earlier, I didn't want to dance. But like I said before… dancing really wasn't the problem… Well you know by now what is the problem, anyways, when she had turned her back to me to dance on me I casually moved back allowing some horny dickhead to step in front of me and take my place and then I just fled the dance floor in search of Al.

"Yeah I got shoved out of the crowd." She looked a little upset but I think it's what I didn't say that made her upset. I think, as far as relationships go, as the boyfriend I should be reeling about that horny dickhead rubbing on my girl, but I was getting tired of lying, so I didn't comment.

"Oh," she said her eyes looking down at her feet, "Oh yeah!" her face shot up now looking angrily into mine, "What's up with the security at the stairs, they wouldn't let me up here! I had to sneak up here! And why aren't you answering any of your texts?"

I gave a small nervous laugh. "My phone died earlier tonight," She was looking at me like I was a child who wasn't doing what he was told, or a dog that pissed on the carpet. Well I probably shouldn't have told them to not let her up here, but I just couldn't stand it anymore. "Really?" I said trying to sound surprised, fuck, this lying shit was getting old, "I'll have to have a talk with Zampano and Jerso later."

She looked satisfied with my answer and sat down in the seat opposite of me, "So I was thinking," she said batting her eyelashes and letting her fingers twine around each other on the table top.

I knew her well enough to know she was going to ask me to do something that she knew I didn't like… I held my breath.

Her fingers were now tracing invisible lines on the L.E.D. table top, "It would really make me happy if you came to church with me…"

She looked up from the table and into my eyes attempting to show me how much it would mean to her. I wasn't a man of "God," I believed in circulation of all things in the universe, I didn't believe in a single omnipotent being controlling everything. It didn't bother me all that much that she was into her religion, it's just when she would try to drag me into it.

"Agh Rose," I said putting my hand to my forehead, "You know how I feel about that; I don't like that Cornhole guy either—"

"Reverend Cornello, you mean," she gave me that glare again.

This time I didn't attempt to hide my eyes rolling around in their sockets, obviously annoyed, "Whatever," I took another drink of my beer feeling like I needed a little kick, "I don't try and push my beliefs on you, plus there's definitely something fishy going on with that Cornhole guy."

She looked pissed, but hey, I was only trying to be real with her. She stood in front of me for a moment and screamed, grabbing half of V.I.P's attention, "HIS NAME ISN'T CORNHOLE! IT'S CORNELLO!" If I wasn't being yelled at I would have laughed at that outburst, and also if I was a dick. She took a deep breath, "I'm just trying to show you God's light!" she said.

Look, if she wants to believe in some Cornhole—Cornello, whatever. But the sad fact is, she's a hypocrite. She talks about the wonders of God but barely abides by her religion. It's as if she felt that if she repented for her sins she could live the life of a slutty party girl, well until I came along. She was just a puppet when it came to things like this. She simply did what she was told would be best. She didn't stop to question what the world really was. "Rose, I'm not going to go to some church that I don't believe in, with some sketchy guy trying to control my thoughts." I said calmly.

She just made a sound of annoyance and stormed off in the direction of the stairs.

As she bolted down the stairs I watched her bump into Al, who had a pretty blond and a cute redhead on either of his arms, he looked like he had said something to Rose as she huffed passed him, but I couldn't hear it with the booming speakers around me. Truthfully, I didn't care either; the music was a comforting distraction to the drama taking place. Al looked like he was trying to be polite to the two girls he had strung around him but was blushing furiously. I watched as the two girls smiled and waved, realizing Al probably told them he had to leave.

He approached me, his blush disappearing. Instead of confronting me about the situation like he usually would he simply said, "Are you ready to go?"

I nodded standing up, we walked down the stairs and I checked with my bartender, Maria Ross, for her to close up at 3 A.M.

* * *

><p>AL'S POV-<p>

The car ride to the apartment was quiet but short. It was midnight when we arrived at the apartment and we were both exhausted. We walked into the lobby and entered the elevator, Ed pressed the button to the 25th floor and when the door's closed I figured it was a good time to ask him.

"So," I said, "What happened this time?" I looked down towards my feet, feeling as though I didn't want to see the glare that he might be giving me.

I heard him sigh, and glanced up to see his fingertips were placed between his eyebrows, she really was driving him off the deep end. "She's trying to drag me down to that bastard's church again," he was shaking his head as we hit the 12th floor; "I tried to explain it to her, that I'm not going to change my beliefs because someone just said 'Hey there young man? Would you like to live forever? Well try our new solution! God!'" Ed said in a goofy voice.

I started laughing and couldn't stop myself, instead of Ed punching me he couldn't help but laugh too. When our laughing died down I had retraced the million fights he and Rose had.

"Well I mean you guys have been dating for six months now," I said with the smile still on my face from laughing, "Maybe she's just not right for you."

When we were kids, after our mother died and father had abandoned us, our guardian, Izumi, had encouraged we see a therapist to bring closure to the tragedies we experienced at such a young age. Ed didn't like it one bit of course, but I think… I think what I learned from the therapist then had stayed with me. Ever since Ed was a kid, and even now as an adult, he has always pushed everyone away. Relationships never really got serious, or he didn't care, he had friends but no one he would trust to completely to watch his back. The therapist had said that Ed hadn't come to terms with his father abandoning them. After the… accident, I had lost my memory of the first 9 years of my life, so I don't remember our father. Ed didn't like our father and encouraged me not to as well. But anyway, I always scolded him when he tried to run from relationships, although I really can't say I've formed many myself, but I guess that's just my shy personality. I've watched Ed run and run and run, but this time, I saw him give this relationship his all. I know for a fact though that he wasn't trying for Rose or himself. He was trying for me, worried that I was worrying too much about him and not my own life and relationships.

Ed looked at me, shocked I wasn't trying to convince him otherwise, "Really? You think so?"

I looked up at him and smiled at his expression, giving him a pat on the back, "I know you tried to make it work Brother, so whatever your decision may be I fully support it." I said, divulging my honest feelings.

We were now out of the elevator and approaching our penthouse apartment. Ed unlocked the door and immediately threw himself face first on the couch. I closed the door behind me and watched as he awkwardly kicked his boots off with his face still planted into the seat of the couch. When the boots hit the ground and he wiggled both his automail and flesh toes he let out an over exaggerated groan. I shook my head as I strode over to my laptop, opening it up to check my e-mails before bed. I heard the TV flick on behind me and the sounds of Ed shifting on the couch.

I filed through my e-mails deleting some spam, and finally I got to the two e-mails I had been itching to read. The first was a letter from Central University.

"Brother, this is it," I said gulping before clicking on the e-mail. I clicked on it and closed my eyes.

"What is it, Al?" Ed asked curiously but not curious enough to tear his eyes from the T.V. screen.

My lungs filled with air and felt like they were going to burst with strings of confetti and glitter. The first seven words of the e-mail made my heart flutter. "I'VE BEEN ACCEPTED TO CENTRAL UNIVERSITY, BROTHER!" I screamed joyously, without even realizing the words that came out of my mouth.

Although Ed didn't jump for joy like I did, and his words definitely didn't sound that surprised, his facial expression said differently, "Oh come on Al, we both knew you'd get in…" he said smiling brightly at me.

I jumped around for five minutes or so barely able to contain myself. I didn't realize that I was jumping on the couch until Ed stood up and pushed me off the couch muttering "Jeez you tell the kid he's going to go to college and he turns into a school girl." I didn't care though; I would finally be able to start my degree in the medical field. Sure, taking care of business at _Steel_ was alright, but it definitely wasn't what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. Once some of my excitement had fled my body I calmed down enough to remember I had another e-mail to read.

Ever since I was twelve I had a pen pal that lived out in the West in a city called Risembool. In grade school we had all been assigned pen pals from sister schools in different cities and for some reason we just never lost touch. The last letter I had sent her I was telling her about my hopes for getting accepted to Central University to begin my degree in the medical field. I smiled as I read her newest letter,

"Hey Al,

Wow, you never told me you wanted to go into the medical field! That's awesome! My parents were doctors when I was younger. That's so awesome! Well I'm sure you'll be accepted, I can't imagine with your intelligence and ambition they could possibly turn you down. You're so lucky! Your letter got me thinking though. I've always been a great engineer, and I don't mean to brag, but it's true. But I've noticed a lot lately that with the times changing just because I have a reputation as a great automail mechanic or great mechanic in general doesn't mean as much as it did when I was younger. I was thinking about possibly moving to Central and maybe getting a degree in Automail Engineering. If I want to continue to hold up the Rockbell name, I gotta change with the times, right? What do you think?

Love,

Winry"

If I thought I couldn't get any more excited I was definitely wrong. Winry Rockbell, practically my best friend, aside from Brother, moving here. All kinds of thoughts flashed through my head at the idea, I wondered what she looked like now. I hadn't seen a picture of her since we sent our first ones when we were twelve. What if we took the same classes? OH, or if she lived in the same apartment building? My eyes turned to mischievous slits and I turned around to look at Brother's head. "Oh brother…" I said not getting a response.

"Brother!" I said bolting up from my seat and jumping over the back of the couch softly landing beside Ed's feet.

"Um, yes Al?" Ed said still staring at the T.V. clicking through the channels looking bored as ever.

"Alright so, hear me out on this first, you remember my pen pal Winry?"

He looked confused for a second and then he realized, "Oh yeah… the gearhead right?"

I rolled my eyes but still had a happy grin pasted to my face, "Yeah that girl, well I just got a letter from her and she's saying she wants to move to Central so she can go to college here."

Ed turned off the T.V. as he stretched and yawned, "Okay, so?" he said now getting up from the couch.

"Well," I stood up following behind him, "she's gonna need a place to stay… and I was wondering, well…" I stopped behind Ed as he stopped and turned to me now in the doorway of his room, "if I could offer for her to stay with us?" I asked, but then quickly added, "I mean you know… she might not even wanna..."

Ed yawned again and turned back around to walk into his room, "Sure, we've got two empty rooms, why not?" he was now stripping all his clothes off save for his boxers, "As long as she can pay her share of the rent." He plopped down onto his bed rolling over so his back was facing me.

"Really?" I said gushing with joy, but then stopped, "Wait how much would you charge her to stay here?" I now felt a little worried that he was being so easygoing just to tell me he was going to charge her a ridiculous amount.

"I don't know, Al" he said waving his hand in the air for me to let him sleep, "like 200, 250 or something?"

I practically bounced off the walls with joy, feeling like a pinball, I ran up to him and took his automail hand in my hand and kissed it 3 times, "THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU."

As I was running out of the room I heard Ed groan "Fucking school girl," under his breath.

He could have called me anything and I wouldn't have cared. I was too excited to care. The sound of my fingers banging on the keyboard rang in my ears until I was eventually lulled to sleep.


	2. Uh, Winry Who?

A/N: Woohoo! Okay so Its six o'clock in the morning where I am and I just finished this chapter. Yes I stayed up all night writing… I'm such a loser ;P Oh well. I made this chapter extra long because I thought it would be the right thing to do. As Rose would say… God told me to. Oh how I despise Rose… I hope you all do too, because she definitely gets a bad rap in my fic ^.^ Enjoy! And please Review! My first two reviews made my stomach plummet with utter happiness. And that's why I was so quick with my next update…. ;) Oh and beware, there may be some mistakes as I said… I've been up all night…

So if you haven't noticed I really am a huge techno/trance fan, so I decided with each update I'll leave you guys a song to go listen to ;)

If anyone knows how to post links... that would be some awesome knowledge I'd appreciate but for now you'll just have to youtube it...

Gareth Emery - Tokyo (Ben Gold Remix)

Disclaimer: Of course I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist… Do you honestly think Hiromu Arakawa would sit here making fan fictions on her own manga… Jeez that would be stupid… :P

Chapter 02: Uh, Winry Who?

-3 WEEKS LATER-

ED'S POV-

It was morning, I knew by the light seeping through my closed eyelids. I restrained from opening them, my body felt drained. I had felt so drained. Why did I feel so incredibly tired? I grumbled and decided I was too tired to ponder the mystery. I rolled over onto my stomach trying to get comfortable before I would drift back to sleep. Only thing was, something squishy and warm was in my rolling zone. I popped one eye open to see Rose. _"She stayed last night…" _I thought to myself. Recalling the horrendous fight we had the night before, _"That's probably why I was so tired…"_

I turned my back to her not wanting to remember last night's fight. But when I shut my eyes to hopefully be flown away on a cloud of dreams, instead I found myself flooded with last night's argument. Stupid brain. She was asking me if she could move in with Al and me. Before I could even respond she started talking about how she had some friends she could hook Al up with and maybe he would move out and leave her and me to ourselves. I could see where this was going and cut her off before she started spewing marriage in my face. I was pissed by then, who did she think she was to try and separate me from my brother? I didn't comment on her moving in because I really didn't know how to express my true feelings on the subject. This obviously pissed her off and she asked me how I felt about it, in a bitchy tone of course. I diverted the question and said that even if she was to move in she would need to get a job to pay her share of the rent. She started screaming about how I owned a multi-million dollar club and that I could simply pay the rent easily. Now it was my turn to be pissed. Did she think she could free load off of me because I had done something with my life that I worked my ass off for? I told her that, and she said some dumb ass comment about Al not having a job. I was seething; I remember my fingers digging into her shoulders as I screamed at her. My own words rang in my head, "He's my brother! And if he wasn't here I wouldn't be either! He's what keeps me grounded in this fucked up world. He been there with me and helped me achieve my dreams… Now tell me again why the FUCK I should charge my own damn brother to live with me when I can't even bear the THOUGHT of living in this hellhole without him?" My eyes flew open trying to dismiss the thoughts of last night. I quietly sighed and slipped out from under the sheets. I stood in front of my full-length mirror. Dark circles encased the lifeless brown orbs placed where golden eyes should have been. I ripped my eyes from my reflection with disgust and placed them on the sleeping figure wrapped in my sheets. The air tasted heavy like poison I felt my stomach roll as I stared at her. I know we hadn't had sex last night, but I felt sickened by myself. I turned away trying to press the feelings away but couldn't. I left the room to escape my own guilt. When I saw Al in the kitchen I couldn't help but smile and feel my guilt repressing itself little by little. He was such a fruit I swear. He was sitting in front of the stove cooking what smelled like eggs and bacon. But he just happened to be wearing his favorite cooking apron that had cat faces all over it. He hadn't noticed me yet, and I couldn't help but wonder why he was beaming like the sun at the spatula and skillet that lay in front of him. "_Something important was supposed to happen today… What was it?" _I pondered staring blankly at him, "_Was today his first day of school?" _I mentally shrugged as that was my best guess and traipsed out to the living room.

My feet dragged sleepily on the carpet of the living room floor alerting Al that someone else was present. He turned to look at me and I watched his face turn from his brightest grin to a very dark questioning look.

"I made some extra coffee for you if you want some." Al said as he turned back to his work. "I'm also making some eggs and bacon." He added as if some food might cheer me up.

I wasn't paying too much attention though. Al had been so careful with me lately. Ever since I started dating Rose Al hadn't pried too much on what was wrong, or what had happened. I assume he probably heard everything anyways since we were fighting in the living room. The sound of Al's voice cut through my thoughts.

"I also organized those papers, so now you just have that meeting with Roy at five tonight." Al said as he poured the scrambled eggs and sizzling strips of bacon onto the plate.

I padded over to the kitchen to pour myself some coffee, "Thanks Al." I said as I poured the coffee and realized the number of things he had done that deserved a thank you, "For everything." I looked at him and forced a small smile onto my face.

He didn't return the smile and just shoved the plate of food into my automail hand, "Eat Brother," he said looking at me worriedly. He knew something was up inside of me, he knew I was feeling turmoil. He knew it wasn't just the fight I had with Rose. He was right.

I walked over to the island and sat on a stool, "Aren't you gonna eat?" I said through chews of the delicious strips of fatty bacon, savoring each molecule of yummy goodness. My eyes watched him in his goofy apron walking toward the bathroom next to the living room where he disappeared.

"After I'm done cleaning" he said as he reappeared with what looked like a ball of my dirty clothes in his arms.

"Uh, why are you cleaning, don't you have school soon?" I said looking around the house seeing books thrown all over the coffee table and the carpet looked like it needed a little vacuuming… Why was I asking him again?

"School?" Al said looking at me as if I just flown in on my alien starship and had green skin and big bug eyes, "School doesn't start for another week, Brother" Al said as he was piling all my clothes into the laundry basket.

So there wasn't any school today, but I could have sworn _something_ important was supposed to happen today. Well, something important to Al.

Al obviously deciphered the confusion on my face, "Oh I see now," he said rolling his eyes and picking up some of the books sprawled on the coffee table, "You forgot what today was."

Pieces of egg flew out of my mouth as I replied to his accusation, "Whatever! I knew it was something important! Isn't that good enough?"

Al snickered at the annoyed tone in my voice, "I should have known you wouldn't remember," he said as he placed the books back on to the book shelf in alphabetical order, "This house _is _a mess, a good sign of your forgetfulness."

"Al quit playing, what's going on today?" I said picking up my plate to take it the sink.

"Brother, Winry's coming today!" Al said barely able to contain his excited grin.

"Uh, Winry who?" I said before I could catch myself, "Oh yeah, that's today? Whoops." My interest in Al's joyous behavior now lost. I was now sitting on the couch with my feet planted on top of the business papers Al had so neatly stacked, sipping my black coffee.

Before either Al or I could realize her presence she spoke, making us both jump, "Who's this… _Winry_?" Rose said with an almost disgusted tone.

There was no other word to express how I felt, _"fuck."_

Honestly, I had forgotten about Winry coming. I didn't really care that much, it would be just like having another dude in the house right? I mean I can't imagine someone who works on automail all day and submerses themselves in grease for a living could exhibit womanly features.

It was then that Al spoke up trying to claim Winry so I didn't look like an ass, "She's an old friend of mine, she's moving in so she can go to CU." Al grinned widely again. Jeez he was excited; at least he wasn't jumping around like a school girl…

Rose smiled an obviously very fake smile at Al, "That's great Al but would you mind giving your brother and I some quiet time?" I rolled my eyes, quiet time? That's another thing… Al was only a year younger than us and for some reason she treated him as if he was a fifteen year old or something.

Al nodded his smile being replaced with an annoyed glare and heaved up the basket of dirty clothes and slamming the laundry room door.

She looked from where Al had disappeared and let her eyes drill into my head, "So, is there anything you have to say for yourself?"

I took another sip of my coffee, "I forgot about it Rose, it's no big deal…"

"Oh no…" She said sitting down next to me shaking her finger in my face, "No, not a big deal at all. You just tell me last night that if I were to live here with you I would be freeloading off of you, but then you let some slut stranger waltz in here and do exactly what you said I couldn't!"

I practically threw my coffee cup on the table, "Do you EVER listen to anything I say?"

She rolled her eyes at me, "Of course I do, and you should hear yourself, you're such a hypocrite! What is she some bimbo you want to fuck?"

I stood up in front of her, appalled at what she just said, "Do you realize what you just said, here you are ASSUMING what you think is going on! She _has _a job, she _will _be paying rent."

She looked up at me from the couch, "So! That still doesn't take away the fact that you let your brother live here for free and don't even give me the chance to! I'm beginning to think your only concern is for your dick!"

WHAT? Where the FUCK did that come from? We hadn't had sex in like a month. I looked at her appalled. My face contorted in anger. Before I screamed at her until her ear drums exploded I took a deep breath. "If that's what you think then I think it's time we take a break." I said simply. Then I raised my hand to point at the door, "Now get the _fuck_ out of my apartment."

I could feel her eyes pressing at my averted ones to return her gaze, but I refused. I sat back down and began to drink my coffee staring out the window in front of me. I felt her weight shift off the couch and she clumsily walked to the door, slamming it behind her.

The noise made me automatically sigh in relief. Or was it relief? I placed my coffee back on the table and threw my feet up next to it. I rested my neck on the back of the couch and placed my fingers between my closed eyes. I felt guilty. Here I am, knowing full well that I don't want to be with this woman for the rest of my life. Terrified of telling her, terrified of not telling her. As much as I knew I didn't want to be with her, I also knew I had no intention of hurting her. I was afraid of leaving her, not for myself, but I was afraid of breaking her heart. As much as I detested her beliefs, the way she did things, I could barely even find her attractive now; I didn't want to hurt anyone. I _know_ what it feels like to be abandoned. Although it was my father that abandoned me, the situation was still similar in my eyes.

My eyes shot open as I felt the cushions next to me accept a warm body onto their surface, "I know you don't wanna talk about it, but I think it might be time to."

I looked over at Al's brotherly gaze, I almost wanted to hug him hearing him finally bothering me about my problems like the normal Al would have.

I resisted, "It's just Rose." I said as I started thinking about how angry the thought of the drama was making me that I started to pace around.

"I would ask you to elaborate, but I think I know what's going on in that head of yours." Al said looking at his knees, "Even though you hated Mrs. Kurte, she was right about some things…"

I stopped my pacing, "What that therapist from when we were kids in Dublith?" I said annoyed, "Yeah right…" I started walking towards the sink with my coffee mug.

Al followed me but stopped in front of the island separating the kitchen from the living room, "You're worried about abandoning Rose aren't you?" Al asked my back.

I stiffened a little, but then continued to wash my dishes furiously, ignoring his question.

Al sighed a knowing sigh, "Did you ever think for a second that these fights will stop? They'll just keep getting worse, and you're only making her more miserable by drawing it out." Al said confidently, "Besides, the fact that you aren't interested in her isn't going to just disappear one day."

Al was right, ugh, I hate when he's right, which he was more often than not. I tried to ignore the truth and continued to scrub my breakfast plate till I felt like I had drilled a hole in its surface.

Al laughed at me, and I turned around glaring at him with the wet sponge clenched in my automail hand, "What now?"

He put his hands up in the air, and calmed himself as my glared impaled him, "I'm sorry Brother," he said, "But if I would have known that pissing you off would make you clean up after yourself I wouldn't have warned everyone not to call you short."

Before I could even comprehend his slight insult, my body and mouth went on autopilot, "DON'T CALL ME SHORT!" I said throwing the sponge and hitting Al directly between the eyes. My eyes widened as I realized what I did but before I could even say anything I felt the wet sponge pelt the side of my neck followed by a laughing Al who tackled me to the kitchen floor. He had me pinned and took the sponge and smashed it on the front of my face until water was trickling down the sides of my face, Al still laughing his fat head off.

I couldn't help but break down and laugh too, and as he helped me up we continued to laugh, "I really needed that Al, thanks." I said through my guffaws.

Al just smiled, his eyes crinkling in the corners, "Now" he said picking up the sponge and putting it away, "Lets clean this up so when Winry comes she doesn't think we're a couple of slobs."

"I'm not cleaning up!" I said walking towards the couch.

"But Ed," he was saying as I threw myself on to the couch, "how are you going to get her into bed with you if she's disgusted by you." Al said obviously having heard Rose's assumptions.

I laughed, "Eh, she's a bimbo slut right?" I said repeating Rose's words, "Plus she's a gearhead, she probably isn't attractive."

"What was that brother?" Al said in a serious tone, but followed up half-jokingly, "I'll have you know that I had the prettiest pen pal in class!"

I stared cross-eyed at the stray hairs that hung from my bangs, "Yeah Al that was when she was in grade school. Mustang might have even been cute when he was in grade school." I paused for a moment thinking about the annoying shit head, "Nahh…" I said as Al and I burst into giggles.

We continued to playfully bicker back and forth as Al was loading dishes into the dishwasher.

* * *

><p>AL'S POV-<p>

Mustang and Brother had just left for _Steel_ to have their monthly meeting. Winry's train was coming in thirty minutes and as I was preparing to walk out the door and drive to the train station my nerves hit me. I had been so ecstatic for the past couple of weeks at the idea of her moving in, but now the nervousness was kicking in full throttle. I was getting worried that maybe we wouldn't get along well in person. I mean it's one thing to know someone over the internet and another to know someone in the flesh. I kept telling myself that everything was going to be fine and that living with Winry was going to be just as simple as being her pen pal. Hell she was more than a pen pal though, there were things that I had disclosed only to her, not even to Brother. Maybe it was the distance that made me trust her so much, or the fact that she was like my sister. _Sister._ The word calmed my nerves immensely. I gathered my courage and left for the parking lot. When I got to the car I flung open the passenger's door and placed the small sign I made to signify her who I was on the seat. I know it seems silly; we could have traded pictures over e-mail before she came and it would probably be easier. But we both decided it would be fun to see each other for the first time in 12 years. When I arrived at the train station I walked to the platform where her train was expected to arrive. It was five minutes till and there was a small crowd of people. I could see a train on the horizon but couldn't really make it out. As I watched it nearing closer and closer my nerves started biting at my stomach, devouring my insides making me feel a mixture of butterflies and vomit. Why was I so nervous? It seemed like hours passed as I watched the train come to a screeching halt. The door opened and passengers started flooding out of the train. I gulped and held my sign up looking for the blond hair and blue eyes I so vaguely remembered on a cute little twelve year old girl. My eyes scanned every person exiting that train and when I saw her I knew it was her. She had a leather strapped tool box on her arm and when I saw her I practically bolted over to her.

Hoping I was correct as I pushed through the crowd to get to her, I called her name, "Winry Rockbell!"

She was looking to my left until she heard her name and her eyes locked on me, she smiled I giant grin and tackle-hugged me so hard I almost fell over. "Alphonse!" She screamed in my ear as she hugged me, "You look great!"

I smiled and could feel my face heat up slightly, "So do you!" I said taking a good look at her, and then I realized, "Where are your bags?"

"Oh yeah!" She exclaimed almost forgetting her stuff, "It's in the back of the train."

After we hauled all of her stuff, which really wasn't that much, out of the train and into the car we drove to the apartment laughing and smiling the whole way like we had been around each other for years.

* * *

><p>WINRY'S POV-<p>

Spending the whole day on the train made me stiff. But it was nice though, gave me time to get even more excited about Central and the University, as well as the parties! On the ride here I had thought about my too short stay in Rush Valley. I was there training under an automail engineer that was an expert in design. When it came to functionality of the limbs I could practically take first place. But as for design, it was hard for me. I guess it was hard since I didn't really see a real reason to how the end product looked. Garfiel had taught me firsthand the technical side of design and also how it affected the customer's outlook on the overall end result and how it helped build your reputation. Living in Risembool for all my life I had few customers, and they were all regulars. Risembool wasn't a fashion hot bed of any kind, since most of the people sporting my automail were farmers that had gotten in tractor accidents and what not. They didn't care as long as it worked well enough and was cheap. Going to Rush Valley really made me realize all the limitations of Risembool. Sure I had missed the sweet smell that only my own workshop held, Granny's drinking stories, and all my childhood friends. But being in Rush Valley had had its advantages. For one I could expand my variety of customers, making me a more adaptable automail engineer. Secondly, I was living with a good friend of mine Paninya. Rush Valley wasn't like Central, with the night life being the most memorable to anyone who ever visited. But Rush Valley had its own charm, mostly littered with automail shops and bars since its citizens were rough and rowdy kind of people… Well the kind of people that would lose their limbs. But there was one club that monopolized the younger group of people. Paninya had dragged me out there forcing me to come dancing with her. So I went. I learned two things: one, I had some serious natural talent for dancing apparently, although I can't really recall since I was so enveloped in the music. That brings me to my second epiphany, techno music was AMAZING. I mean just what I needed, music that sounded like working on automail! I was obsessed.

As I had ridden the train out of Risembool I felt a similar feeling as I did when I left for Rush Valley for that one summer. I watched as the familiar farms passed by coming to terms with leaving my beloved home, but once I was out of Risembool's reach, I felt like I was a bird spreading my wings for the first time.

Al and I drove through Central's busy streets allowing me to see how awesome Central really was. There were people EVERYWHERE. In comparison to Risembool's few familiar faces, I felt like these people were multiplying right in front of me. Al was kind enough to point out all the cool things on the way home for me to see. We drove passed the university and all I could think about was how I was going to pry my plastered face off of the car window in amazement of its size. Al had laughed at me, and I couldn't help but feel like I was really welcome in his presence. He felt like a brother that had been with me all my life, well he practically had.

The sky scrapers redefined their name as I stared up at them in awe. They literally scraped the ozone, I could have sworn. I hadn't gotten a chance to see the party side of Central yet, but Al told me if I was up to it we could go meet his brother at his night club. Of course I had agreed. Al turned into the parking lot that housed an orangey-brown luxurious building that stood taller than its surrounding neighbors. It had expensive-looking windows dotting its massive walls, and large balconies jutting out in neat rows. I was appalled that this is where I lived. I almost wanted to pop out a picture of my old house and have a hard laugh with Al.

Now I found myself leaning over my new queen-sized mattress fitting my muted teal sheets into place. I could feel eyes on my back as I threw the flat sheet on top tucking the bottom underneath the mattress. Al had stopped arranging my picture frames on the wall and was staring at me.

"Yes Al?" I said smiling at him and then returning to my bed, now throwing my down-alternative comforter on top.

"Oh nothing, I was just thinking about how much you've changed." Al hung the frame he was holding on the wall.

I laughed a little, "What since I was twelve? I suppose you might have changed a little too." I said jokingly, laughing fuller.

He laughed with me, and it felt great. What luck did I have? I was now living in a gigantic apartment, accepted into Central University, living in Central, and got to live with someone so incredibly easy to be around.

When the bed was made I threw myself onto it face first, lying flat on my stomach. Al followed suit with me, lying comfortably next to me.

"Thank you so much, Alphonse," I said looking at him with my only eye visible, "We're gonna have so much fun!"

He smiled at me and rolled over to get up out of the bed, "Speaking of fun, you gotta get ready to go to _Steel_ tonight, I told Brother we'd meet him in an hour."

My stomach lurched in excitement. It was nice that Al was already throwing me into the night life; I don't think I could have waited until tomorrow to experience it. "Please, I get ready in a flash," I said standing up and flipping my hair confidently.

He smiled and left the room to go get ready himself.

It had been too long since I had gotten a chance to go out and have a good time. Resembool wasn't exactly the party capital of Amestris. I laughed at the thought of that while I was shedding off my travelling clothes. In fact the closest thing to a night club we had was Blue Grass Night at Milton's Pub on Saturday nights. I rolled my eyes at the thought. Let me tell you, I am NOT a fan of blue grass music. Having heard from Al that his brother had owned an electronic music night club I couldn't have been more excited.

In my bra and panties I searched through my closet to find something interesting to wear. I wanted to fit in with the mood and pulled out a gray tank. Well I guess you wouldn't really call it a tank. The neck line was a deep V and the fabric was gathered below the cleavage. It fit snug around my torso, the only cloth on the bottom half of the shirt was two strips of cloth covered in white diamond-like gems that formed an X-shape on the back and front of the shirt and was held together by a thin strip of cloth on the bottom. The shirt left most of my stomach and back bare and showed a decent amount of cleavage but it looked more exotic than sexual in my eyes. I paired it with a reasonably tight black skirt that fell mid-thigh and a pair of heels that weren't ridiculously high. I usually wore my hair in a ponytail but decided to leave it down since it seemed dressier. Giving myself a once over in the mirror I stepped out of my room to find Al in the bathroom checking himself out.

* * *

><p>AL'S POV-<p>

I wore the usual black slacks and a white dress shirt partially unbuttoned. It seemed to business-like too button it up to my neck, or maybe I was just taking after Ed. I turned my head making sure I didn't have bed-head on the back of my head. I took a second to re-part my sandy golden bangs to the right side of my face. I turned my head to see Winry giggling at me.

"You ready yet girly?" She said laughing a little at my tediousness

I almost came up with a comeback but when I saw her outfit I was a little surprised she was showing so much skin for a country girl. "Geez you adjust quickly to the city life, huh Win?" I said turning off the bathroom light and heading out to the living room to grab my blazer.

"Oh please Al, just 'cause I'm from a small town doesn't mean I don't know how to look good and have a good time." She said lightly slapping me on the shoulder.

With that we headed out the door and piled ourselves into the car.

* * *

><p>ED'S POV-<p>

It was 12 A.M. and Al was nowhere in sight. He told me he'd be here at seven thirty I thought… but then again it was lady's night so _Steel_ was pretty packed. I had texted him but he must not have heard it over all the noise of the crowd. We did have a famous DJ here tonight as well so everyone was kind of going crazy. Deciding that filing through all the people on the dance floor to find Al wasn't going to work, I went upstairs to V.I.P so I could scan the crowd for him. With women invading every corner of the dance floor my usual tactics of finding Al weren't exactly working. Usually I'd just look to where most of the women flocked, since women loved Al for some odd reason. That was when I realized all I needed to do was reverse my tactics. There were a lot of men but they were distributed throughout the sea of women. I planted my forearms on the railing and planted my feet further behind me to lean on the rail. I scanned over all the dudes until I spotted him in the far left side of the dance floor with a beer in his hand. He appeared a little tipsy but seemed pretty sober. It was an odd sight though; instead a flock of women surrounding him like the last pair of shoes at a department store, there was only one. She looked pretty shit-faced honestly, and I'm good at spotting drunken people since I own a club where practically everyone is shit-faced. She had one arm slung around his neck her fingers clenched around a half empty margarita as she leaned in to whisper something in his ear. A few seconds later the two were both laughing. When they returned to dancing I noticed that she wasn't dancing on him like every other woman had. She danced in front of him, with him. Her curvy figure was swaying around the dance floor. When she moved her arms and legs in rhythm with the music I couldn't help but compare the smooth movements to the fluid movements of water. Like waves crashing on the sand on a beach, she was immersed in her element. It seemed like the music was the moon and she was the tide. Being pushed and pulled with the rhythm. She was so fluid, like a talented dancer, but more. You could _feel_ her _feel_ the music. It seemed that the circle of people around her were energized by her movements, were pushed to dance harder and feel harder, _feel _like she did, like she was _contagious_ or something. Who was this woman?

I watched as Al had pulled her over to a quieter area near the bar, taking that as a sign I pulled out my phone and texted Al.

* * *

><p>AL'S POV-<p>

Dancing with Winry was the most fun I'd had in a while. Even now, when she was drunk, she wasn't all over me making me feel awkward. We'd looked for Ed for a while until I realized that he had to be here, so it would be best to stay in one spot. Once Winry had some drinks in her she was like water out of her container. It was hard to keep her in one spot, but we had managed. When Winry mentioned she liked techno music I would never expect her to be so into it. We were off in the corner near the bar taking a break when I felt my phone buzz. Opening it I found a couple text messages from Ed.

The most recent one read, "I see you." Immediately I looked to the second floor to see him hanging over the railing casually waving. He turned around and walked out of sight.

I leaned over Winry, placing my lips next to her ear so she could hear me, "Brother is up in V.I.P, wanna go?" I said.

She put one hand on my shoulder and nodded, smiling. Maybe I should have stopped her at five margaritas, but she seemed like she was doing alright.

I shrugged it off and headed for the stairs.

* * *

><p>ED'S POV-<p>

I was lounging in the booth that was reserved specifically for me and my guests when I saw the two come dancing up the stairs. She was dancing playfully now, and Al was trying to hold on to her to make sure she didn't fall down the steps. Usually Al didn't bring women he danced with to our booth, so seeing them playfully spinning around each other made me wonder. She had gotten distracted by the crowd below and was dancing where my usual look out spot was. Al had to get her attention again and then she slung her arm around his shoulder tiredly while he placed his hand on her hip for support. As she neared the booth she looked to the floor to watch where she stepped. Her hair was a light blond that fell to her ribs. It was straight but seemed to be thick and swayed in her face as she continued to stare at the ground. I took advantage of her averted eyes and wandered down her body. She had a curvy figure that's for sure. Her hips weren't wide but curved enough to show that she had developed in the right places. Oh and the right places they were… her breast weren't average but weren't balloons. They pressed together forming the soft line of her cleavage. And what kind of shirt was that? The gems on the X-shaped cloth on the front gleamed even in the dark light of the night club. You could see her navel poking out just underneath where the two strips of cloth met. Her legs were long and toned; she was paler than most women. But it was a delightful sight as she continued to place one leg in front of the other nearing closer and closer. She was a stunner to say the least.

"Brother!" Al said waving his free hand as he approached me. "Brother, this is Winry Rockbell," he said casually his hand pointing to her.

Her head lifted up from the ground and her eyes raised to meet mine. I was entranced by their color. They were endless, bottomless, deep blue. I drank them up with my own golden gaze. But the color still remained; her eyes were like the depths of the ocean. _Like water_. She smiled at me and sat her drink down on the table in front of me. She extended her right hand to me and said "You must be Ed." Whoa, whoa, wait a second. Winry? The gearhead? The one that lives and breathes automail? This is the girl that was going to be living with us? Oh boy… I shook her hand without realizing it. "Al told me not call you anything like short, pipsqueak, midget, vertically-challenged…"

She kept going on and on until my body reacted, I stood up my face inches from hers, "DON'T CALL ME SHORT, YOU GEARHEAD AUTOMAIL FREAK!" I really needed to learn how to control my outbursts, I definitely wasn't short anymore.

She looked pretty pissed and before I could even apologize she tackled me. She pinned me down to the floor and smacked the side of my head with something really hard and cold. I looked up to see the wrench in her hand. I rubbed the spot where she struck me, feeling a bump. And even though I was feeling light-headed I started to laugh uncontrollably. Something about that wrench was hilarious. For one, where the hell did she get it from? I mean her damn outfit clung to her like a second skin, it's not like there was much room left for anything else to fit in there. Secondly, why the hell did she have a wrench and why was this her weapon of choice? I was laughing hysterically now and pretty soon Al and Winry were cracking up on the floor as well. After our laughter died down and the people around us stopped staring Winry held out a hand to help me up off the floor. I took it and she heaved me up almost drunkenly falling over herself.

"Sorry about that," she said scratching the back of her head nervously. Al was now holding onto her elbow to make sure she wouldn't try any stunts.

I smiled laughing a little still, "No, no, it was funny."

I looked at her hands for the wrench but oddly it had disappeared. Weird as it was, it was a little freaky, and maybe a little sexy. Man this was getting weird.

We all sat down at the booth and chatted for a while. Most the time Winry would go off on some drunken tangent and we'd all start laughing. All the while I found myself staring into her eyes, like a man thirsty for a drink. Something else was in those eyes though, something that was comforting, something very deep. Some connection…

I looked up at the clock in the back to see that it was an hour past midnight, "I think we better shove off, it's getting late and you're probably bushed from your train ride." I said as we all stood up to leave.

Since Mustang had picked me up from the apartment I was riding home with Al and Winry. When we arrived at the car Al offered Winry the front seat since she had the most to drink and might get car sick on the way home. When I pulled out of the parking lot and onto Main Street I could already hear Al's snores from the back seat. I looked over to my right to see that Winry had already kicked off her heels revealing her dainty little toes painted a light shade of pink and her knees were curled up to her chest. Her head rested on the door of the car and I watched as her chest rose and fell gently as she slept. _What was it about this girl? _She's so… mysterious? Different? What exactly was different I didn't know. I continued to take peeks back and forth from the road to her sleeping figure, until I barely realized I had parked in the apartment parking lot. The stop had roused Al from his sleep and he practically zombie-walked out of the car and into the building without giving a second glance at me or Winry.

I decided I would try and wake her, "Winry" I said very softly, her name falling out of my mouth as if I had said it so many times before.

The sound of my voice made her mumble something incomprehensible and her body shifted to face me. Her head now rested on the headrest of the seat, drooping slightly. I smiled at the sight and said her name a little louder, "Winry."

She threw her hand on my face her fingers clinging onto my bottom lip accidentally, "Shh" she said in her sleep, as her fingers slowly slid down from my lips, slightly tugging on them before her hand fell onto my thigh. I felt my stomach lurch at her innocent touches. For a sleeping girl she really knew how to put the moves on me. I decided that I wasn't going to be able to wake her up so I placed her hand on her own leg and got out of the car. I went around to her door, and opened it. Her lacy black panties were very slightly sticking out the top of her skirt that seemed like it had shrunk ten sizes now.

"One thing after another" I mumbled under my breath trying to take deep breaths to calm my hormones.

I took one more deep breath and very gently placed my automail hand under the bend in her knees and wrapped the other around her back. I lifted her up and out of the car, shutting the door with my foot, and pressing the button on the key ring to lock it.

In the elevator I started to lose grip on her and tried to shift her into an easier position for me to hold her. We were at the 15th floor and her legs were now on either side of me and her arms fell around my neck as she slumped over my shoulders. Every time she took a breath I felt her breasts press against my chest and not to mention her legs spread around my waist with just that little skirt on.

"You sure aren't making this easy, Winry," I said feeling my hormones riling up again, that twisting feeling in my pelvis area.

When we reached the 25th floor I sighed with relief, booking it out of the elevator and to my apartment door. I looked at the keyhole to the door trying to figure out how to balance a sleeping girl with one hand. I closed my eyes again and took a deep breath, trying to keep my hormones under control, placing my arm underneath her bottom, and used the other to open the door. I walked inside, sighing in relief, I closed the door with my leg and walked to her room.

I turned the doorknob to her room and the door opened with a creak. The sound of the door made her shift in my arms her breasts rubbing against my chest making me shudder. Her legs wrapped tighter around my waist pressing her heat onto my navel. I was enjoying the feeling until the sound of her voice made my whole body stiffen.

"Mm... So warm," she huffed as she nuzzled her nose into the nape of my neck. I waited a moment to hear for her breathing to make sure she was still asleep. What the hell would I say to her if she woke up wrapped around me being slightly hard? I pushed the thought away when I felt her breathing deeply on my neck.

I walked into her room and placed her on her bed and pulled the covers over her sleeping form. When I went to turn and leave, her movement caught my attention; she was scooting all the way over to one side and rubbing the empty spot on the bed. She must have been half awake but too drunk to really wake up or to understand what she was doing… I think. I looked at the half-smile on her face as she kept rubbing the empty area of the bed; it looked so _warm_ and inviting. I glanced to the door and back to her, confused with what exactly I should do…


End file.
